School Days – 07

Makoto is resting his head on Sekai’s lap one day on the rooftop when she comments on how Kotonoha didn’t come again. He suggests that it’s because she’s busy with her committee work, but Sekai still isn’t comfortable with how they’ve purposefully shifted their morning schedules. Reassuring her that it’s okay and pulling her down for a kiss, Makoto is unaware that Kotonoha is actually watching them from the stairwell. He then comments on how it’s getting cold, and Sekai wonders if their time eating on the rooftop is over. Later that night, Kotonoha is in her room working on knitting and asking herself why Makoto was doing those things with Sekai. She’s not sure if Makoto doesn’t like her and thinks that she has to work harder, but her thoughts are interrupted when Kokoro comes by her room to ask about the school festival because she wants to go and see Makoto.

The following day in class 1-3, Setsuna is showing the costume she got for their festival activity when Hikari runs in with news about the other classes doing a little sister teahouse and a zombie teahouse. Setsuna has her own plan, but Taisuke then barges in with more bad news: Tanaka – the other representative for the class – has been injured and needs two weeks to recover. Since this leaves Setsuna by herself, Hikari suggests that Makoto replace Tanaka. Makoto isn’t entirely willing, so Setsuna wonders if Makoto is worried about Kotonoha being there. This makes Hikari ask if he is having a fight with her, and to clear things up, Setsuna then announces – to everyone’s surprise – that Makoto and Kotonoha have broken up. What’s more, she also reveals that he is now going out with Sekai. This news gets passed along to Otome via Nanami, who suggests that Kotonoha had indeed been one-sidedly involved with Makoto.

Later that day, Kotonoha is happy to see Makoto present during the committee meeting with all the representatives, and she tries to speak with him afterwards. She feels that with him being there, they can now be together after school since they haven’t been able to get together in recent mornings, and she asks him if he as any free time as Setsuna tries to drag him away. Setsuna immediately answers No for him and reminds Makoto that he has to meet Sekai, but Kotonoha doesn’t give up and promises to text message him. True to her word, Kotonoha sends him a message a few minutes later saying that she wants to eat lunch with him tomorrow on the rooftop. Realizing who it’s from, Setsuna thinks that Makoto should block messages from Kotonoha and takes his cell phone to enable the feature. When Makoto objects, Setsuna tells him that it’s for Sekai’s sake.

At the Katsura house that night, Kotonoha realizes that she made a mistake in her knitting and starts to pull it apart. However, she doesn’t stop and keeps pulling until there’s a huge pile of yarn on her bed. The next morning, she tries to text message Makoto, but she finds that she can’t send it. She isn’t able to get through by calling him either. Makoto, of course, still has her blocked, though he continues staring at his phone thinking about it. During gym class, Sekai notices Kotonoha sitting alone to the side, but Setsuna doesn’t think that Sekai should be worrying. Kotonoha then waits for Makoto on the rooftop during lunchtime, but he never shows up, and it soon starts raining. Meanwhile, the classes continue their preparations for the school festival, and Otome and friends bully Kotonoha to get them some sheets.

Kotonoha is on her way to the storeroom when she runs into Makoto and Setsuna, and this time, Makoto wants to talk with her, particularly since he can see through her wet shirt. He offers to help her, but noticing Setsuna trying to pull Makoto away, Kotonoha walks off by herself. Makoto then questions if Setsuna has a grudge against Kotonoha, and although Setsuna doesn’t, she reaffirms that Makoto is now Sekai’s boyfriend. Unable to leave Kotonoha alone, Makoto ignores Setsuna and chases Kotonoha, but he sees her talking with Taisuke down the hall. He then follows them to the storeroom and tries to spy on them, but he’s discovered by Hikari and Nanami who are passing by. When Hikari notices Taisuke is inside, she starts eavesdropping too and hears him invite Kotonoha to dance at the end of the festival.

It seems that Taisuke had heard that couples who dance together at that time will stay together, and he goes on to reveal how he’s liked Kotonoha since they all went to the pool and how he heard that they were broken up now. Taisuke thinks that this is his chance, but to his surprise, Kotonoha declares that she and Makoto haven’t broken up. In fact, she questions why he’d say this, and before he can answer, she excuses herself and runs out. Since Makoto is right outside, Kotonoha immediately runs into him and is glad to see him. However, she doesn’t get to say anything because Nanami steps in between them and accuses Kotonoha of making an advance at Taisuke, causing Kotonoha to cry and run off in tears. Although Makoto doesn’t chase after her, he does later turn off the blocking feature on his cell phone.

At Makoto’s apartment later, Sekai reveals how she had heard from Setsuna that he went after Kotonoha earlier. Sekai isn’t too happy about this, and as Makoto is protesting that Setsuna was being mean to Kotonoha, the doorbell rings. When Makoto answers it, he finds Kotonoha standing there wanting to talk with him. As she hears Makoto apologize for his cell phone from the other room, Sekai recalls how Setsuna had told her about the blocking she enabled. After showing Kotonoha that she can now contact him again by cell phone, Makoto suddenly tells Kotonoha that he’s not feeling well. Kotonoha is about to leave, but she then notices the extra pair of shoes that are at Makoto’s doorstep and realizes what’s going on. Before leaving, she decides to ask Makoto to dance with her at the end of the festival and reveals how Taisuke had thought they were broken up.

Hearing Kotonoha talk about being Makoto’s girlfriend brings tears to Sekai’s eyes, and after Kotonoha leaves, Sekai announces that she’s going home. Makoto tries to stop her because she might run into Kotonoha if she heads out so soon after, but Sekai leaves anyway. With tears still in her eyes, Sekai runs out of the building only to find Kotonoha standing on the sidewalk. Saying that Sekai’s been unfair, Kotonoha raises her arm and slaps her.

This episode was just oozing with drama once again – the screencaps don’t quite do it any justice. Regardless of whether I like the characters or not, I think this series is working towards being a masterpiece by how well it presents the story and how exciting it is to watch. One moment, I’m thinking that Kotonoha is going to go into SEED-mode and the next minute I’m thinking that Sekai will one about to crack. And the entire time, it was clear that Makoto’s relationship with both girls was fragile, so it kept me guessing on which way he was going to lean and wondering what the consequences are of everything he does. I may not be a big fan of Makoto, but his actions sure keep the story interesting, and I keep wanting to see more.

As for the characters, I thought that Setsuna was right to realize that Makoto needed to be kept in line for Sekai’s sake, but it seemed rather futile of her to try to keep him from talking with Kotonoha, and it even might have led to him wanting to talk to her even more. Kotonoha, on the other hand, I find a bit strange because she’ll stand up and declare that Makoto is her boyfriend to the likes of Otome and Taisuke, yet she doesn’t do anything about him cheating on her, even though she’s seen it with her own eyes at least twice now. I guess you could say that that slap at the end is her way of telling Sekai to keep her hands off him, but Makoto himself still doesn’t know that she found out. It’ll be interesting to see which girl fights for Makoto more as the school festival arrives next episode and the dance draws closer.

Few times have I wished for someone to be slapped as bad as I did for Setsuna this ep, what a nozy bitch, she doesn’t know the whole story, of course the other two won’t clarify it to her so it’s not as frustrating for us to watch. Kotonoha is so ronery it hurts.

@Fuhrer: I agree, it’s almost painful to watch yet you can’t help but do.

I guess what I really wish to happen on this series (and easily in other animus cause it’s more of a jap culture thing) is for the characters to really express themselves to one another, that they could fully state their feelings and thoughts and be heard, I don’t know why, but I think it would be easier to watch that way.

My analysis of some of the characters; lets start with the minor ones.

Setsuna – meddling! She is really insightful and seems to be able to guess at the situations (or in other words, a bit nozy) – however she does not know the whole story therefore even adds on to the already misunderstood atmosphere regarding the Sekai-Makoto-Kotonoha issue. She is doing this out of the ‘goodness of her heart’ and even SHE knows that what she’s doing is wrong (phone blocking), which is why she repeatedly uses the “i’m doing this for sekai’s sake” excuse over and over.

Otome – “bitchy”, that’s all i have to say. She would be NOBODY without her group of friends, who are equally mean as well. She knows Kotonoha has something to do with Makoto, and therefore she holds a grudge. You can even see how she smiles evilly when Kotonoha gives in to their stupid requests. I hate their “holier than thou” attitude and they all act as if they’re important (“we have to take our leave from our clubs as well! if you don’t get us those sheets we can’t help you blah blah”). They probably think safety is in numbers, which allows them to bully ones who are weaker.

Nanami – chill a bit. As a girl, I hate the girls in this anime, who are always taking a spasm over boys. So you see Taisuke asking Kotonoha out – and blames it on Kotonoha for Hikari’s sake, when it’s so obvious to see that Taisuke is the one trying to make a move. And who are you to be accusing Kotonoha that “you made a move on itou before, not on taisuke?” … if she is, so what? Is this any of your business? Setsuna announced that “kotonoha and makoto have broken up” and they believe her – so…what’s the problem even IF kotonoha is hitting on Taisuke, since she’s “single”?

Makoto – On the same page – YOU eavesdropped on the whole conversation between taisuke and konotonha – you jerk, why didn’t you at least defend her when Nanami was doing all the accusing? Bad boyfriend and friend in general. He probably followed after Kotonoha after seeing through her shirt. I mean, the guy loves sex – and that’s “normal” according to most people. However most people are also not “idiots”. I would love to see that he gets what he deserves. People can’t continue to say things like “but guys like sex” and use that as an excuse for him. I don’t think it’s as simple as that. The guy has no respect for people that are his friends IMO. While he shouldn’t die just because he is an idiot, I really DO wish for the bad endings…

Sekai – She is good at heart – but then who isn’t? She’s been generally a good character – a good friend to all, befriended Kotonoha, which is nice because K doesn’t really got friends. However, she is soon manipulated by her own feelings. I know being in love makes people act funny but that is not an excuse. We know that she is so in love with makoto that she couldn’t help it, but she could have made more of an effort to tell Kotonoha at least. It was painful to watch, how they’re dragging this out and K eventually discovers it for herself. However, she IS the one who started it all, indirectly. I believe Makoto is too dense to make a move on Sekai when he was still with Kotonoha. However Sekai sort of “sparked the flame” when she kissed him (I mean, why would you do something like this in the first place even if you can’t help you; you just set the two of them up and then you go and kiss him), and then the practice sessions. YOu can’t just expect a guy to “treat” it as “practice”. I really don’t see “practice” is something a friend should try to teach another without another purpose behind it.

Kotonoha – I always feel so sorry for her, because everyone seems to have something against her just because of a nice figure, or that she’s too quiet to even defend herself. I mean, it’s not a FAULT to have a shy personality – we all know that some people are hard to get them to open up – it is especially hard when no one even bothers to reach out to her – and the ones that did are Sekai and Makoto, who betrayed her as well. Her only “friends” have betrayed her and the other people hate her – so I won’t be surprised if she ends up losing her mind and kill of Makoto at the end. I really DO like how she’s trying to improve her shyness with each episode though. However she should have slapped Makoto (though slapping sekai was kind of satisfying in a way) – however, if she’s in denial all this time even after seeing Sekai/Makoto kiss, it is obvious that Kotonoha still wants him, so slapping Makoto instead would be inconsistent. Plus I KIND of understand why she would slap sekai over makoto because a) as the audience, i know sekai initiated this whole thing as much as makoto did b) Sekai approached Kotonoha first as her FRIEND, probably one of the few ones she has at the school – so this is viewed as a pretty bad backstab, c) because of all this, she has to take shit from people like otome, nanami, and setsuna.

Why are all the guys in this show such perverted retards? Real high school guys are not like that. Even if they are horny and want sex, they can usually contain it and resist grabbing every girl by the ass and such.

I understand this is a girls’ show, but some guys like romance shows as well. I know I do. Why can’t they include at least one decent manly character who we can cheer for and hope to end up with one of the girls? Since I do not like the yuri idea, the only thing I can hope for is for Makoto to finally man up and correct his mistakes, but we all know that’s never going to happen.

Seriously, I hate shows that present all guys as wimps and perverted monsters.

The creator of the show created a character like Makoto because he or she (more likely to be a female) wanted to show the ugly side of relationships and the concept of love, and how some insincere dumbasses see it as a joke, character like Makoto does it perfectly. And he or she knows it. There was one scene where a seemingly unimportant remark Makoto has made talking to his friend saying “Wow, that game’s main character sure is the lowest of the low.” Like what many others have said before me, any girl with any respect for herself wouldn’t sacrifice friendship, purity, or even her time for this type of fag/dumbass. Many say that there’s nothing wrong with Makoto scoring chicks just cause he’s a player. Oh ok, rapist running wild everyday is a reality too, does that mean there’s nothing wrong with it also? The guy is just a scum, that’s all. The show’s purpose is to teach us not to be a pushover like Kotonoha and be assertive of one’s self, not to be weak minded and spiritually fragile like Sekai. Lastly, not to be a fag like Makoto, cause fags get on people’s nerve and just don’t become one.

I’m officially pissed off with Sekai, Setsuna and everyone else on the female cast.

Matoko is still being an asshole; unable to decide which girl he loves (if he really loves one of them). Sekai is now guilty for keeping up with Makoto their relationship a secret from Kotonoha; and now Setsuna is a bitch for what she have done to Kotonoha’s reputation. Now everyone treats her like crap because of that lie about her and Makoto breaking off.

Sekai being angry at Kotonoha’s words was just stupid, she knew very well what was wrong since the beginning but starred to believe what Setsuna and Makoto does unconscious (making her believe their relationship was fine and fair). Now that bitch needs to learn a lesson. Sadly it looks like we’re heading a bloodlust ending, when Kotonoha surely will pay for that Show Spoiler ▼

killing herself or killing Sekai

Kotonoha is at fault too for not taking action rapidly, but now that she saw Sekai leaving Makoto’s apartment everything has to be clear for her.

Seriously, I need to see School Days on weekends to have enough time to calm down.

Erg. In my opinion, Makoto is the one at wrong. Not Kotonoha nor Sekai. Well, He was the one who attacked Sekai first, so.. you get wat I mean? Sekai gave in because she had feelings 4 Makoto I guess. Kotonoha alrdy knows tat Makoto is cheating on her yet she still doesnt want to leave him. Come on both of u, Kotonoha and Sekai, leave Makoto! :D In one of the game endings, Makoto died. Killed by Sekai. Isn’t tat a gd ending? Lol. U could catch the episodes on Youtube. :D

That scene about the camera was important if you played the game.Show Spoiler ▼

They record what happens in the “lounge” in one of the cafes or something that has a … bed. In the game one of two things happens if the room plays a part – either Kotonoha is raped by Taisuke, or Makoto has sex with Kotonoha and the video is later accidentally shown to Sekai.

(Actually something else happens with one of Sekai’s friends, the tall one with short hair, but I can’t really remember what happened – it doesn’t involve Makoto)

Setsuna is definitely strongly aggressive about keeping Sekai and Makoto together. Remind anyone of someone? Reminds me of how Sekai was forcing Makoto onto Kotonoha, hiding her own feelings. It seems like maybe Setsuna is also hiding some of her own feelings for Makoto. Sigh.Show Spoiler ▼

OF course Setsuna does have feelings for Makoto in the game. And they went so far as to make an Alternate Universe game called “Summer Days” where Setsuna is the main heroine

Normally, any H-Visual Novel that would get adapted into an anime would mostly stick to canon as is the case of Fate Stay Night (not sure how Kanon or Tsukihime turned out since I never got into them as much). The question that bugs me is what route in School Days is defined as the canon route envisioned by the creators?

If anything, they may do a mix of good/bad endings. Maybe both Kotonoha and Sekai will try to stab each other with their saw/knife and Makoto ends up getting in the way to try and protect them both and gets killed over it. Then… suicide afterwards? Who knows.